Kid Ninja: Spirit of the Dragon - First Look

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The spiritual successor to Namco's I-Ninja? Screenshots and artwork included.

By Jeremy Dunham

From the early days of Kid Niki and Zen to more recent offerings like Ninja Gaiden and Kunoichi , the shadowy art of Ninjitsu has always been a strong commodity in the videogame world. As it seems that regardless of whether or not these titles have been aimed at children or adults, the gaming populace at large can never quite get enough of the shurikens, caltrops, and face masks. With that in mind, UK developer Asylum Entertainment has plans on continuing that theory with its upcoming platformer Kid Ninja: Spirit of the Dragon.

Though the game hasn't been announced more formally through a publisher for any territory, Spirit of the Dragon still has a style that immediately reminds us of Namco's own hop 'n slasher, I-Ninja. Following the exploits of the childish-looking but very bad ass character known as Jet Woo, Spirit of the Dragon shares a lot in common with Argonaut's effort from last year. As not only does Kid Ninja enhance its action with a darkly humorous slant and cartoony art direction, it's also heavily reliant on jumping and puzzle solving. The big difference in Asylum's game, however, is that the action will play out in a much different way than that of any other ninja game before it.

That difference is that Jet Woo does a whole lot more than just slash his way through the opposition. He also has the ability to transform into different kinds of animals that possess their own unique abilities and attacks. When Jet morphs into a giant gorilla, for instance, he'll be able to destroy just about everything with his massive simian hands. Transforming into a preying mantis, on the other hand, allows Woo to slice and dice his opposition into itsy bitsy pieces. There are other creatures that Kid Ninja can transform into as well, with critters like butterflies and tigers adding some additional muscle to the roster.

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"We want the character to be one of the most recognizable and best loved brands in the market for a long time to come," said Asylum Spokesperson Jamie Collison in an interview with the leading UK industry publication Edge Magazine. "We're launching him across several mediums involving cutting edge music, TV, film, comic books, and toys. We expect it to be hotter than Mario Sunshine."

Unfortunately few people have had the opportunity to check out Kid Ninja for themselves. As since it was announced in late 2002, there has been next to nothing else revealed about it. Hopefully, though, we can get some additional information and more concrete details on it rather soon and determine whether or not it's the hot platformer that Asylum claims it will be. In the meantime, click on our media page below for some early screenshots and artwork. We'll be back with more as it becomes available.